1976-10-07

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FIERRPONT & CLIiiTOIJ STS. 12- 49
BROOBUN Z, N. Y, COMP Sidewalk Sale Saturday |
A Prize Winning Weekly Serving The Greater Farmingdale Area Since 1920
An Official Newspaper for the Village of Farmingdale
VOL. 57 NO. 47 Second Class Postage Paid
in Farmingtiale, N. Y. 11735 Thursday, October 7, 1976 Copyright 1976 by Dric « 1 5* - £ 5 Der vear
Island- Wide Publications, Inc. P" C * • • ? - * « ' Pe r Ye ar
School Tax
Rate Drops
Eighteen Cents
SALUTE TO EAGLES: Two of the loir Eagle Scoots attaining scenting* highest rank daring the east
year in Troop 41 are shewn receiving citation proclamations from Farmingdale Village Mayer John T.'
Hallahan during last weeks board meeting. Receiving the awards are Patrick McDonald and James
Williamson. Brian Fleming and Vincent Grande III could not attend the ceremony.
[ Post photo by Bob Starrett]
Fall Festival Sidewalk Sale
In Farmingdale Saturday
The third annual Fall Festival
of Values and Sidewalk Sale will
be held in downtown Far­mingdale
this weekend, with the
Sidewalk Sale being featured on
Saturday, October 9. The sale will
begin today and continue through
Monday, Columbus Day, October
11.
Only twice a year does the
Village of Farmingdale close
Main Street to vehicle traffic for
special events: Hardscrabble in
May and for this Saturday's Fall
Festival. The two block Main
Street shopping area from
Prospect Street to Front Street at
the Railroad Tracks will be
blocked to traffic from 10 a. m. to
6 p. m. Saturday and will become
a giant open- air walking mall for
shoppers.
Downtown merchants will
display sale merchandise on the
sidewalks in front of their stores
and offer discounts on goods
inside the stores. A carnival type
atmosphere will prevail, similar
to the Hardscrabble Fair but
without the booths and games of
annual May event.
A special supplement in this
week's edition of the Post will
show the stores to visit for
bargains on Main Street, but
watch closely, some of the best
buys require coupons from the
merchant's ads.
The Farmingdale High School
Dads' Club will also be par­ticipating
in the Fall Festival by
conducting their own Oktoberfest
on Main Street. The Dads will be
offering the " best of the wurst,"
knockwurst, bratwurst, weiners
and sauerkraut, as well as ap­propriate
beverages.
Musicians playing the
traditional " Oompa" music of
The Farmingdale School Board
has just done what 58 other
Nassau County School Districts
Were unable to do this year. They
have reduced school taxes. The
only other district that is lowering
taxes is Roslyn, and Far-mingdale's
18.3 cents per hun­dred
drop exceeded. the Roslyn
decrease of. Ail .7 cents.
The announcement of the
decrease was made aftefjjgssau
County published school titrates
last week, showing an average
increase of 79 cents for each $ 100
of assessed valuation in other
districts. The district had an­ticipated
a cut of 3.4 cents when
the budget was approved by
voters in June and board
members attributed the added
good news to an improved
financial situation.
Just two weeks ago Moody's,
the financial service, gave
Farmingdale its highest rating
for short- term borrowing and the
district borrowed at a 4.12% rate
of interest. This helped to permit
a reduction of the planned tax
levy by $ 140,000 and this savings
was immediately passed on to the
public.
The tax levy was not reduced
by additional cuts in educational
programs or seryices. This
district has an average class size
of under twenty- five in its
elementary schools and had
announced the phase- out of one
school and its fifth grade foreign
language program last year.
Staff cuts had been made in line
with declining enrollment and
officials look forward to- a
relatively stable tax picture in
the coming year, barring un­foreseen
problems.
Tax rates had not been an­nounced
in Farmingdale and two
other districts when the county
released its figures last week,
since final assessment figures for
the Suffolk portion of the districts
were not available.
Residents on the Suffolk side of
the line also received a decrease
of 2.7 cents per hundred; the
rates vary due to different
assessment practices in the
counties. Suffolk residents had
anticipated a 19.7 cent increase.
The tax picture in the district
which also covers portions of
Massapequa Park, North
Massapequa, Massapequa, and
North Amityville had been
steadily improving over the past
three years. Last year the
Nassau County rate increase
averaged $ 1.07 per hundred and
Farmingdale's increase was well
below average at 79 cents.
In prior years the district's rate
increases were accelerated by
the gradual loss of Republic
Aviation property to the tax-exempt
MTA. About $ 500,000 a
year in income is now lost as a
result of the takeover. During
[ Continued on page 20]
Press Association To Honor Carl Dittmeier
Carl Dittmeier, who founded
the P. B. C. Nautical Cadets and
served as commander for over 15
years and served three terms as
president of the Farmingdale
Youth Council, will be the Far­mingdale
Post's recipient of the
John Peter Zenger Award for
community service during the
Nassau County Press
Association's dinner- dance
Friday, October 15, at the
Salisbury Restaurant in
Eisenhower Park.
Dittmeier moved to Far­mingdale
in 1946 from Mc-
Keesport, Pa. and completed his
education in the Farmingdale
School system. He joined the
Merchant Marines as a> deck
hand and raised himself to the
rank of Captain/ He presently
holds a master license in the
Merchant Marine.
Carl joined the Postal Service
in Farmingdale in 1956 and again
worked his way up through the
ranks to his present position as
Assistant Postmaster of the
Farmingdale Post Office.
With his Merchant Marine
background, Carl formed the
Nautical Cadet unit under the
auspices of the Police Boys Club,
a member organization of the
Farmingdale Youth Council. He
served as commander of the
Nautical Cadets for over 15
years. The cadets marched in
Farmingdale parades in full
Navy uniform as a drum and
bugle corps.
Shortly after being named
president of the Farmingdale
Youth Council for his third term,
Carl was honored as Far­mingdale's
Man of the Year in
1974 by the joint service clubs of
Farmingdale, Rotary, Lions and
Kiwanis. He received the honor
during the annual Brotherhood
Day program in Farmingdale.
Carl and his wife, Dotty, reside
at 23 Anita Place, Farmingdale,
and have two adult children,
Kenneth and Patricia.
This year, the Nassau County
Press will be paying homage to
five outstanding women in
various fields of endeavor. These
women will be receiving the John
Peter Zenger Award for
Achievement. In public life and
the judiciary, Supreme Court
Judge Beatrice Burstein will be
the recipient; for success in
business, Grace Fippinger, Vice-
President on the Board of the
New York Telephone Company
will be honored; Sister Joan
Kister, FMM, Executive Director
of St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn
has been chosen for her con­tributions
to the field of
medicine; Bernice Gera, 1st
woman umpire and past
president of the New York Mets
Wives Club has been cited for her
work in sports and her con­tributions
to aiding the han­dicapped.
The fifth recipient in
the field of the arts is local artist
Sirena who has received
numerous awards here and
abroad for her original paintings.
She also has donated much time
and valuable paintings to charity.